


Chronicles of Lioness

by gavros963



Category: Original Work
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Agender Character, Cat Ears, Fantasy, Gen, Transformation, Transgender
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:15:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25621984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gavros963/pseuds/gavros963
Summary: From the moment Joshua arrived in town, it was clear, he wasn't from our world, not just because of the cat ears either, the things the girl with him did made it clear that his claims and promises weren't tall tales.





	1. The Order of Lioness

I was at the marketplace collecting supplies for the vet, enjoying being able to get away from the animals for a moment.

Oh, I guess I should introduce myself, I'm Joe Garnett. I'm a veterinarian at the local veterinary clinic. I love my job but every now and then it's good to get outside and do something that isn't as stressful as performing surgery on someone's pet.

Anyway, I was on my way to my first stop when I noticed a group of hooded figures in the crowd, they wore hooded robes similar to what cultists are depicted wearing. Except they've got holes in the top of the hood and popping out are accurate versions of cat ears and a tail sticking out the back.

I have to say that as I got closer I found it harder and harder to believe that these are fake, they're too accurate. The only one who didn't have the hood up was a young man who has black cat ears on his head. Which like the rest of the groups I would never have guessed they were fake if they were not on a human head.

'This must be the new religious organization everyone's talking about.' I thought. The group calls themselves the Order of Lioness. They seem to have appeared no more than two weeks ago, but they've already become thousands strong. Thanks in part to them getting major figures on the top of both the Catholic and Jewish churches to join.

One of the figures directs the hoodless boy's attention to somewhere. Then they all go in that direction. As they do a little girl, no older than five slips out of the crowd.

I wouldn't have noticed her if it weren't for two things. One: everyone else was staring at her. Probably because of item number two; she's surrounded by cats. Way more than a dozen, and I'm pretty sure that I've treated some of them.

This five-year-old girl has befriended all the stray and outdoor cats in the area. An amazing feat on its own, but add in how cute the blond haired girl is in that realistic cat ear headband on her head, and with a kitten in her arms as well as on her head, half the crowd are gawking while the other half is 'awing.

As I watch she seemed to look from one cat to another then running off somewhere, at which point the crowd dispersed and I felt it was time to get back to my errands.

* * *

When I returned to the vet, I put all the supplies away and moved on to the waiting room, it was a surprisingly slow day today with there being no cases at the moment, the waiting room completely empty, so me and two other doctors, Susan and Anthony, decided we’d spend some time chatting with the receptionist Mary, since there was nothing better to do at the moment since there was literally no work to be done.

At some point during the middle of our conversation, the girl from before came through the front entrance ringing the bell, grabbing our attention.

One thing I noticed was the lack of cats around her until I look out the glass door behind her to see a shopping cart full of yarn balls had fallen over and the horde of cats spreading it out while some kid videotaped it, probably with the intention to post it on the internet.

It was at this point that I realized something I didn't realize before, her tail was swaying, in a way that I would expect a cat tail to sway, granted cats only sway their tails when upset or on the prowl.

at this point, Anthony walked up to the girl and said. "Hello, Are you lost? Where are your parents? What's your name?"  
The girl for most of the questioning just tilted her head, as if not understanding the questions, until the question of her name in which she smiled and said. "I'm Lioness, want to play?"

At this point, something happened, something that I would never quite forget, Anthony started to shrink, losing height at a very rapid pace, his body hair seemed to retreat back into his body while his hair seemed to grow out, his arms and legs seemed to slim down and become petite, as his face rounded out making him look like a girl, I notice him dig through his pants, and the fact his face turned red as a tomato told me he wasn't a he anymore.

Her dark brown hair then turned a lighter chocolate brown as I watched her now really baggy lab coat and uniform underneath shrink and fuse into a blue sundress with a flower pattern on it.

Then, her ears started moving up her head until finally, two chocolate brown triangles popped out of the top of her head, and a tail the same color slithered out from under her dress.

To say Anthony was scared would be an understatement, she was shivering at this point, and her tail was fidgeting nervously, that was until the girl (Lioness she said her name was.) start scratching her behind the ears, at first it looked like Anthony was going to push her away, but then started pushing into the petting, while purring.

after a short petting session, Lioness finally stops petting, and Anthony's eyes open to reveal they've gone from brown to green, with her pupils more oval shaped as if a mixture of a humans pupil and a cats.

"Anthony, are you okay?" I said. For a moment, not a sound was made. You could hear the sound of cats playing with yarn outside.

Then, Anthony lightly pushed Lioness with one hand saying. "Tag, you're it!"

Next thing we know the two were literally bouncing off the walls chasing eachother while we were just dumbstruck.

Suddenly, the cat girls jump on Mary and Susan piggyback style.

They quickly shrunk down to the same hight as the other girls and grew cat ears and tails, now there are four cat kids running around and I was in a good mood to get out of there.

Unfortunately, that was when Mary jumped on me, knocking me down as I felt the changes occur.

I noticed that the transformation was getting faster each time, not sure why but I couldn't really think on for long as I felt myself shrink.

As I shrink I feel my hair grow slightly longer, my arms and legs slim down a little, I could feel as a slender tail slithers out from behind me as another tail slowly pulls itself inwards.

As my ears migrate upwards new thoughts start bubbling up in my mind, they were mine, yet not... They were thoughts like "What should I play next?" and "Where are all the toys?"

At a rapid pace these thoughts overwhelm the normal thoughts until all that was left of me was a five-year-old cat girl who was playing with four other catgirls.

The next half hour is a bit fuzzy, like my actual childhood. The entire experience was like a bizarre mixture of pure bliss and childhood playfulness.

Thankfully it did end, when the door to the outside quickly opens and the robed boy from earlier grabbed Lioness by the neck of her dress and threw her into the hands of two other robed individuals who then dragged her away.

Then he closed the door and held it closed keeping us from leaving for the better half of two minutes, then we started transforming back.

And fainting.

When I awoke I found me and the others on the floor, normal. With the robed boy standing there watching us.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

I slowly got up and said. "Yeah, I think so."

"Great, my name's Joshua by the way. I'm the high priest of the Order of Lioness."

At this point something clicked in my head. "Wait... Didn't that girl say her name was Lioness?!?" I said. "But... If... Then... How... Why!?!"

I think you get the point.

"Now calm down, I can explain." He said, looking over the three unconscious people here. "But I think we should wait until the others wake up first"

* * *

It was only a few moments when everyone else woke up and Joshua gets started on his little story.

“Okay, so Lady Lioness is a cat goddess who was cursed with the mind and body of a five year old, and this curse is contagious as you experienced. My order was made to lift the curse and restore Lioness to her true form so that she can bestow upon all of us her blessing.”

Joshua then turned to where we were all sitting. “does that explain everything?”

“Pretty much, but there are a few questions I’d like to ask.” I said.

“Ask away.”

“First off, I saw you earlier today… Or was it yesterday? How long were we… You know.”

“The transformation sticks around for about one minute for every hour, so about two hours.”

“Okay, so as I was saying, I saw you earlier at the plaza and Lioness got away from you pretty easily, and considering how dangerous she is; why not just lock her in a room and not worry?” I asked.

“Because she can effectively teleport when nobody's looking, leaving her alone is guaranteed to cause problems, or at least more than normal.”

“Define ‘normal?’” Anthony asked.

“Unanimous blinking.” Joshua said with a deadpan tone.

“What?” We all said unanimously.

“Yeah, she can do that too.” He said. “Luckily she never goes too far as she generally just hides nearby or in a crowd so she can play with whoever catches her eye.”

“Wait then why did she come here?” I asked.

Joshua then looked toward the opposite corner of the room. “Come on out Gavros, I know you’re there.”

A green glow then formed across the entire room and coalesced into the opposite corner before fading to reveal a boy the same age as Joshua wearing a fancy white suit and charcoal grey fedora.

“Did you really need to reveal me there?” The new kid asked.

“yes! You’re the reason this happened!”

“I stopped it from escalating into an epidemic. I knew you could handle this little thing with your blessed robes, but just remember this.” He said pointing a finger toward the door, through which you could see Lioness trying to sneak away from a few members of the order. “This is the last time I save your skin, I can’t let it escalate but if this happens again I won’t bring Lioness out of harm's way.” He looked into Joshua’s eyes. “You’re on your own on that front Josh.”

Joshua sighed. “This is Gavros, despite his current demeanor we are good friends. He has helped me out on more than one occasion.”

Gavros smiles and throws his arm around Joshua’s shoulders. “Well yeah, I was the one who got you on this adventure.” He paused. “Speaking of, What’s the current tally on the follower count?”

Joshua then waved one of the cultists in and asked him for some papers.

A lot of papers, full of tally marks.

“Let’s see… We have around three hundred worlds, and average about three point four billion followers every world, for a grand total of around… One trillion and twenty billion roughly, huh, if that’s the case then why isn’t Lady Lioness back to normal?”

“Wait what?” I asked.

"A god’s power is determined by how many not only believe in them but actively worship them, if we obtain enough followers it should make Lady lioness strong enough to break the curse on her own.”

Gavros then added. “I determined that it would require one trillion followers and no I didn’t misspeak just now, we are from another world, we can travel to as many alternate Earths as we want,” Gavros said, then turned to Joshua. “And as for you, I think I know what’s happening, these people aren’t following Lioness, They’re following you, Joshua, it was your charisma and promises that brought them together.”

“But I don’t have any power… Unless… Back before the curse Lady Lioness tasked me with creating nine artifacts, the final artifact I created known as the Tiara of Lioness was meant to just enhance Lady Lionesses power but instead gave whoever wore it Lionesses power.” Josh said. “I deemed it too dangerous after experiencing some… Side effects.”

Gavros nodded knowingly. “Probably should get that then, time to head to Animus?”

Josh nodded and turned to us. “Again I’m very sorry about what happened.”

I gesture for him to stop. “It’s fine, honestly it was kind of fun, felt like I was reliving my childhood for but a moment.” The others agreed.

“Thanks, remember that the Order will always be accepting new followers.” And with that Joshua left through the door and Gavros vanished in a flash of green.

* * *

“So you’re heading home?” One of the local priests asked me.

“Yes, the final piece of the puzzle is back in Animus and I’m going back there to get it, send word to high priests Alice, Alysha, Michael, and Brian, tell them to wait for me at their respective temples.” I said.

“Wait why do you need them?”

“Because the artifact I need was something I locked away with the intention of never bringing it out again, that seal is practically unbreakable as you would need the eight other artifacts I created to break it, and considering that I only kept five, I gave one as a gift, and the rest hidden away to make sure that the seal was never broken, you can see why I’m going to need help on this, because it’s been awhile since I’ve been back home, and not only have I forgotten where I hid the two artifacts, The rest may have been taken and spread around.”

“In other words, you don’t know what to expect.”

“Exactly, plus Animus is not exactly someplace you want travel across alone; back when I was traveling it, I never traveled on the main roads between the kingdoms capitals, as that was where bandits targeted lone travelers, I always used the smaller country roads as the bandits were fewer and more interested in big fish, I never had much more than a canteen on me so I was never a target.” I explained. “But even still, you should never travel alone!”

“I understand, I’ll go tell them immediately.” The priest then went over to a device that a friend of mine made to make communication between sects easier and sent out my request.

Alright, I should go gather everyone, keep up the good work, you shall all be awarded very soon.

With that, I generated a portal to my first stop, looking at the shape of it, the Symbol of Lioness; a diamond with a square set within it, the square in the center represents a human eye, while the diamond represents a cats, it’s the union of the two to become one.

I’m going to make this symbol reality, just you wait Lion King, I will make Lionesses and my dream a reality.


	2. The Legend of Lioness

**This work includes themes such as child neglect and discrimination of religion.**

**With that being said, on with the show!**

I arrived at my destination and joined with Alice and Joshua who was looking around, troubled. “Where are the other two?” He asked.

“I just got word from Alysha that something has come up over at her sect, and she won’t be able to join us.” Alice said.

“And I was told that Michael is busy, although considering him he completely forgot this was happening…” I said.

“Yes Brian, it’s not like I don’t know your complaints with Michael being a priest, but remember, that each one of you is a priest for one reason alone, I trust you guys.” Josh said, before turning around and drawing the order's symbol in the air, which then grew to be taller than any of us, converting into one of our trademark portals.

But before we entered, Lioness jumped out of nowhere onto Joshua’s back. “Mister Priest, can I play with the other kids at the playground?” She asked.

Joshua simply looks over his shoulder and smiles. “We’re going to see your friend Shizu soon.”

At that, Lionesses eyes lit up and she started running in circles, clearly excited. “SIS!” She screamed as she ran straight through the portal.

I slowly approached Joshua. “If that works, why not use it more often?”

“Because it only works if I actually follow it up, you can’t cry wolf, or in this case fox.” Josh explained. “Anyway, we should probably catch up with her, don’t want her getting in trouble.”

We agreed and made our way through the portal, as always it took five minutes of walking to reach the other side.

A bright flash of green momentarily blinds me as I exit the portal, as my vision slowly returns I find myself in an alleyway between two dried mud brick buildings.

The ground was sand and the sky was cloudless, it was like someone dropped me straight into Ancient Egypt.

“And I thought my home state of Arizona was a desert, these people needed to use what looks like bricks made of mud, what’s going on around here Josh… Joshua?” Alice wandered closer to Joshua, who was staring off into space.

“Joshua!” We both yelled, which seemed to snap him out of it. “Huh, oh… Sorry guys, I’m just having some… Bittersweet nostalgia from this place…”

We looked at each other, despite our attempts we could never get Joshua to tell his story, he would always dodge the question, he obviously didn’t want to talk about it, so we stopped trying.

“But that is all in the past, what’s important right now is to focus on the future.” And there’s his question dodging answer.

We exited the alley and entered a large marketplace, and let me tell you, the variety of goods on display was staggering, fruit, vegetables, fish, jewelry, swords, even lumber was sold.

“Welcome to the city of Solon, capital of the kingdom of Arthropus, and center of commerce and trade.” Joshua said, this next part came out much quieter but I still caught it. “Welcome to my birthplace…”

“You were born here?” I asked, but before I could get an answer I noticed a bit of a crowd and pointed it out, We went to see what the commotion was all about, which was easy as everyone seemed to give us a wide girth.

What we found in the center was unsurprising, Lioness being Lioness, trying to decide which of the fifty or so cat’s that surround her she wants in her arms.

While placing Lioness with Alice, I start listening in on the townsfolk, getting bits and pieces of conversations.

“Isn’t that Joshua Williams?”

“Isn’t he supposed to be dead?”

“Who are those two with him, why are they following him and that warlord?”

“Do you think he’s here for the stuff taken from the temple?”

Joshua must have heard that one as well as he sneaked over to the couple in question. “Excuse me but which temple are you referring?”

The two flinched, and slowly turned their heads from each other to our high priest with what looked like pure terror in their eyes.

Despite them being taller than Joshua by about two feet, the girl immediately blurted out, “It wasn’t us! It was the King, he started the Auction!”

Joshua then turned around and walked away while saying, “Thank you for the information, now if you excuse me, I have a date with Solon the Third.”

“Come on guys, I’ll show you the castle.” Despite his friendly demeanor as he said it, we could sense the apprehension in Joshua’s voice, like he just wanted to get out of the city.

“Wait!” 

The girl from the couple came rushing, got on her knees and said. “Please tell me where to find the Jewel of Lioness, I beg you!”

Joshua gave a mischievous smile, bent down, and whispered something to her I couldn’t make out, and then all the color left her face as Joshua walked away.

“What did you tell her?” I asked.

“I’ll tell you all about the Jewel when we leave the city, don’t want anyone to find out how to get it, do we?” He said, smiling in a way that said to me there was a joke here I wasn’t yet in on.

* * *

As soon as we arrived at the castle gates we were met with castle guards and spears.

“Halt! You are not welcome here Joshua, leave before we-” They stopped talking when Joshua said, “You don’t mind if I leave Lady Lioness here do you?” At which point they stepped far back.

“At least these guys realize how dangerous having a five-year-old goddess is.”

Soon after we had passed two more gates, each time Josh did the same trick to the guards as before, till finally, we arrived at a massive iron door; which Joshua pushes open to enter the throne room shouting, “Solon!”

We looked in to find many nobles quivering, and sitting on the throne was a thirty-year-old man with a face of pure terror.

“J-Joshua!?!?!” Solon cried, “I thought y-y-you were-”

“Dead? Well did you find a body?” Josh asked. “But let’s not get into literary tropes right now; you know why I’m here.”

The king nervously swallowed. “I-I d-don’t have them, the auction ended an hour ago...”

“I figured that already, I’m not here for my property, I’m here for the transaction list for my property.”

The king went from fearful to defensive. “And what makes you think we’ll just give it to you?”

“You stole my property, I think it’s a fair trade.” Josh said. 

“You vanished for two years!”

“If you want, I can make you a deal. For the transaction list, I will give you the location of the Jewel.”

Solon was intrigued. “Alright, where is it?”

Joshua brought his hand forward. “The list first.”

“And how do I know I’ll get what I want, the Jewel first.”

“Mr. Priest, can I play with the fancy man?” Lioness asked, making Solon flinch.

“Alright, alright, Stewart, g-give him the list.”

The Stewart left and returned a minute later with a scroll, which Joshua took and opened up.

“The jewel is at the source of the Aracnus river, not that you will be able to get to it, I trapped the place pretty good.” Josh said as he started walking away while reading the scroll over.

As we walked outside, I asked Joshua, “What is the Jewel?”

“It’s unimportant at the moment, let’s just say it’s the most valuable artifact to everyone ever since I created it.” Josh explained. “Now then… let’s see here, my icebox, my statuettes, a lot of just my stuff… Ah, here we are, the five artifacts that I kept here, let’s see, the Mask was sold to a Strideus aristocrat… For five hundred gold pieces? Really? Five hundred for a prank? Right… the Staff was sold to the court wizard of Solonopsin… Figures. One thousand gold pieces, reasonable… The Eyes were sold to a noble of Tetronus for six hundred gold pieces, alright… An Aracnian knight bought the Claws, hope he realizes it’s not for combat…. Four hundred gold, a bit more than it’s worth… the Ears were… Oh, they were bought by a couple from right here in Arthropus, the address is…”

He just fell silent. “Joshua?” Alice asked.

“...” Joshua looked our way with a look of solemness and spite before looking away. “Let’s just get this over with…”

As we walked through the marketplace I noticed something, locked display cases were everywhere, not just used for jewelry and weapons, but also produce and meat.

“Why are all the foodstuffs locked in display cases?” I asked.

“A while back an individual known as the shadow thief caused a bit of a scare, only ever took food, no one ever found him, but he was legendary for taking a single piece of food from a stall while no one is looking and vanishing without a trace except the absence of a single item.” Joshua said, with a slight air of pride.

“Yeah you definitely caused quite the ruckus in those days didn’t you Joshua?” An old voice said, looking over we found a seventy-year-old man running an apple stall.

“I did what I needed to survive.” Josh said.

“Your thievery didn’t affect much but did show up in everyone's ledgers, a clear difference of products sold versus products left of one, and then people started talking, yet no matter how much we scrutinized every child, every homeless, every cat even.”

He looked Joshua straight in the eyes. “I get you lived in an alley, but we are running a business, one apple is three gold, that’s three gold pieces gone just like that.”

“What was I supposed to do? I was a ten-year-old kid with a knack for sleight of hand and misdirection living on the street.”

“I’m not judging ya, just wondering one thing.”

“Where did you learn those things?”

Josh paused for a moment. “... I learned it from my friend.”

“Ah yes, Sylvia, the original street rat.”

“Call her what you want, I gotta go.” Joshua said walking away.

* * *

We arrived at the address and Joshua knocked on the door.

“Whoever you are, you're not welcome! Must we tell you salesmen to f-” The man said, opening the door, but stopped after seeing who was.

“Where are they?” Josh said.

“After all these years, you’ve finally come home, and these are your first words to your father in twenty years.”

“Father?” We said out loud. Is this why Josh’s mood has been so bad lately?

Whether that was the case or not, Joshua ignored us. “I don’t care about you, I care about the Ears! So where are they?” Joshua barged in and started searching the house.

“What’s going on over there! Honey who’s at the-” A woman from a different room said coming into the entrance room.

Josh glanced before going back to his search.

“Joshua, what are you doing, after all this time you come back to trash the house?” The woman asked, as Joshua continued searching a dresser. “Please sweetie, look at your mother whe-”

“You are not my mother!” Josh suddenly exclaimed, looking her direction.

“You gave that up when you decided to throw me out on the streets for being a good friend!” Joshua was visibly in tears at this point.

“She was a filthy Shizu worshiper, we thought that you would come back begging, not become even worse!” Josh’s father yelled back.

“Lioness gave me a home when you, my own family, would not! She was more of a mother to me than you ever were!” Joshua said the second part straight at his mom.

I could feel it, all the hate, all the anger built up from years, was coming out like a wave from Joshua, not just from the abandonment, but everything.

Lady Lioness must have felt it too, because she went straight to Joshua and gave him the biggest hug she could.

“Mister Priest… what’s wrong, why are you being so mean?” Lioness… Such an innocent soul, incorruptible by time and pain.

Joshua looked down at her, then smiled. “I promise to bring you back, that way things can go back to the way they used to be, and we can return to our original plan.” Joshua led Lady Lioness over to Alice. “Milady, I need to talk with the mean people for a little, you stay with miss Alice okay.”

She nodded and Josh went back inside. “I’ll ask again, where are the Ears of Lioness, the artifact you bought at the auction yesterday?”

At that point, they paled. “R-right, that thing, I’m certain it’s here somewhere, not with Joey.” The man said, only after a pause realized his mistake.

“Joey? Little bro has the ears? Well, I guess he isn’t that little anymore, but why does he have them?”

The couple awkwardly chuckles and the woman explained, “Joey learned of the object's origin and took it hoping he could find you with it…”

“So in other words, you let little bro take my stuff.” Joshua then made his way out.

“Wait, Joshua! Where are you going?” The man asked.

“You have nothing more for me here, I intend to leave Arthropus as soon as I’m able.”

He quickly shut the door and marked it with the Symbol.

“By the power bestowed upon me by Lioness, I declare that until this seal is removed, no one shall leave this residence an adult of discrimination.”

The Symbol glowed for a moment, then stopped.

“Wow… that’s harsh, what will happen if they try to leave?” Alice asked.

“They’ll become what Lioness is now, pure innocence.”

“I guess that’s better than being abusive and purposefully neglectful, but I have to ask. What happened with your family?”

Josh sighed, “It’s a long story, which I’ll explain later, once I feel safe, not here obviously, never felt safe in this city, being treated like trash for a year and a half does that to you. ”

* * *

We passed through the southern gate, the guards giving us a generous girth, and followed the road south for well over eight hours, reaching the edge of the desert and entering a heavily forested area by sundown.

“We can set up camp off the path in the cover of the foliage, bandits don’t usually stray too far from the main road in the forest, seeing how these woods are Lioness and Shizu’s domain.” Joshua explained.

We detoured west, built a campfire, a few shelters and got ourselves comfortable.

Joshua gave Lioness a few head pats, got her tucked in, then sat at the campfire with us and sighed.

“I guess I owe you an explanation after my outburst at my old family home, but in order to explain that… I need to explain my world's history a little.”

* * *

Worshiping the gods wasn’t always so taboo as it is today, originally every nation had consults from multiple gods.

The problem came at the start of the current era, the era of chaos, where the head god, the Lion God, or The Lion King, sparked conflict between multiple gods, gods took sides, and pulled entire nations into their wars.

This wasn’t too much of a problem till King Solon the First of Arthropus decreed that there must be peace.

To do this he banned all worship of any kind, executed all known priests, and focused on educating the population on the dangers of worship.

This pulled Arthropus out of the war, and soon all other nations followed their lead. A few hundred years later, King Solon the second would raise the ban, only to appease the gods, the population was effectively taught from birth to treat those who worshiped the gods as warmongers.

I was born to a semi-wealthy family living in the market place, my family tried everything to get me to play with other kids my age but in the capital, most kids were taught the value of trade from an early age, as it was how you measured success in Arthropus, I, on the other hand, was more interested in hide and seek then swapping sticks and stones around as a form of trade-based game.

This resulted in me spending more time in the alleys than the playground, the alleys are full of stray animals of all kinds, specifically cats, whose ancestors were likely disowned in an attempt to drop any association with Lioness.

I soon became friends with these stray cats and started sneaking food away from the dinner table to give to these cats.

It was on the third day that a different kind of stray showed up in the form of Sylvia.

Sylvia was born on the street, completely homeless, and never had anyone, till me.

We hit it off well, As it turned out that the entire town could not wrap their heads around the fact we weren’t interested in the cities' primary source of income… at least until we did, in a way they are still somewhat miffed about today.

Silvia and I decided to start stealing extra food, as it was really difficult to feed her, me and our feline friends on my family's table scraps alone.

The result was spectacular, While Sylvia distracted the crowd, I would sneak off with the goods, it worked pretty well, Sylvia's sly nature combined with my silent feet meant it usually worked.

It was around a month since meeting her when it happened, I came into the alley to find my friend a bit more then she was before, now sporting a pair of fox ears and a tail, and kneeling in front of a teenage girl with red hair, fox ears, and nine whole tails.

Unfortunately, this was also the day my parents met Sylvia, and they were not happy.

Shizu was forced to leave Arthropus that day, I tried to defend her and keep my friend safe, but in return, I was abandoned by my family, who saw me as just as bad for wanting to not only stay friends with Sylvia but also defend her actions.

After that I spent some time on my own, keeping things going by sneaking off food from the food stalls, till a locksmith took advantage of my thievery to sell more glass cases, which forced me out of the city.

I headed south and nearly would have died if not for Lioness finding me and saving me.

* * *

“And that’s about it, after that, I made an errand or two into Arthropus, but was generally treated poorly, my parents tried a few times to get me to come back, but all they succeeded in doing is giving my 3-year-old brother the idea I was some mysterious individual since I’m pretty sure they never once explained to him why I was absent…” Joshua finished. “Which brings us to the issue at hand, the Ears of Lioness are with my little brother Joey, the good news is he’s looking for us too, however, although I’ve met the kid I’ve never told him of any of my common hangouts, so he’s probably wandering these woods as the fact I live in these woods somewhere is the one fact I do know he knows.”

“Exactly what do the Ears do might I ask?” I asked.

“They serve a few purposes, as they are something I made to have on the regular, they allow mainly for the ability to understand cats like they were speaking human, but I also set them specifically with some more unique abilities, one being a direct line to Lioness so to speak, another being a link to another artifact that allows for communication between the two, if one has the Ears they can talk with the one with the Pendant.” Josh said. “Luckily that person is also my old friend Sylvia, and her place is some ways west of here, even if it may not look like it if you head that direction. We should get some sleep, it’s a day trek through difficult terrain with no paths on the way, just an overgrown trail if we’re lucky enough to find it.”

Joshua then headed into his shelter leaving us to ourselves for the moment.

We both sat quietly for a moment, taking in the information we just received.

“I think I speak for everyone when I say we knew that Joshua's home life was… not great, but… I don’t think any of us knew just how bad it really was…” Alice said, softly. “It does explain some of his actions, I remember when I first met Joshua, it was five years ago... I had been living in an orphanage for ten years… My entire life, and then I just couldn’t take it anymore, the bullying, it got really bad one day and I just ran, I was ready to just curl up and let fate take me… But Joshua found me, he listened to what I had to say and then took me home with him, he gave me the one thing I desired, a family, the one thing he wasn’t able to get.”

“Yeah, I remember the first time I met him as well, I was nine at the time, and always felt miserable from the constant fighting between my parents, it was mostly about little things but they were just so frequent, I finally hit my limit when my big sister died, I don’t remember how she died but I think it might have been drug overdose, all I know is that after that the arguments got worse, I couldn’t take it anymore, the one person who helped me through them was gone, and I lost it and ran away, the last words I heard from my parents were their desperate calls for me to come back through all the tears…” I said. “Joshua found me the next day and reminded me of my late sister, always knowing what to do in a stressful situation, at least… Usually, I guess it’s different when it’s his own past rather than someone else’s…”

“It takes great courage to take away another's pain, it’s another thing to shed one's own pain, especially when the scars are deep.” A voice said from the shadows, coming out to reveal a twelve year old with bright orange hair, blue eyes, and a red kimono, two pointed fox ears poked out of her head, and from under her kimono came nine fox tails the same color as her hair and ears.

She sat herself down at the campfire and was about to start up again when something knocked her over. “Big-” Lioness shushed by the newcomer. “Shh, Joshuas sleeping.”

After getting up and making sure Lioness won’t pounce her again, I asked the question. “You’re Shizu, correct? I heard Joshua mention you earlier.”

“Correct, I am the mother of foxes.” Shizu said. “And I see young Joshua found friends, it’s good to see so many devoted after so long…”

“I’m sorry but if you don’t mind me asking… Are you-”

“No I’m not cursed like Nee-chan, I just like this form.” Shizu interjected. “They say us gods look the age we act, it’s true in a sense, although I have merely shifted into this younger form the past few years as I felt less, shall I say, in tune with the older humans.”

Shizu took a look at Lioness and gave her head a good rub. “So where have you been these past years huh?”

“All over, I’ve seen metal carts that move themselves and buildings taller than castles and big dogs with only one toe.” Lioness replied.

“Horse My Lady, I think that’s the tenth time I’ve tried to get you to use the word…” Alice said.

Shizu tilted her head. “What’s a horse?”

“Okay, Lady Lioness I get, she’s cursed, but how do you not know what a horse is?”

“What’s with all the yelling, didn’t I say to…” Joshua had come out of his shelter. “L-l-Lady Shizu.”

“It’s good to see you, Joshua, been a while, at least from your perspective, twenty years is no time at all for a goddess.” Shizu said. “In any case, I’m unfamiliar with this Horse you speak of.”

“It’s an odd looking animal from their world, there isn’t anything really like it here.” Joshua said.

“Your world lacks horses? Wow… What animals are there?” I asked.

“Asking for a list of all animals is basically asking for the creation story. Shizu?” Josh said.

“I guess it’s about as good a bedtime story as any…”

* * *

Our story begins at the beginning, the land of Animus was ruled by five titanic arthropods and their swarms of insects, arachnids, and crustaceans.

That was until the Great Creator arrived and struck down the Titans, sealing them deep beneath the waves.

The Great Creator then forged from the earth eight gods who would create true life.

First was Lion, then Cat, Fox, Dog, Hawk, Rodent, Fish, and finally Ape.

At first things were peaceful, that was, until the Great Creator left, at which was also the point when Lion decided that he wanted to rule in his place.

At the time, the eight of us were competing, competitive creation is very effective, that is, as long as you ignore the constant fighting.

Lion allied with Cat, and together they declared themselves King and Queen, and most went along with it, seeing how the two together could easily beat any of the others, with one exception.

Ape did not like this, Lion hated Ape, for what is unknown, but Ape knew that he had a good relation with Cat, and a really sour one with Lion.

Lion accused Ape of treason and sentenced him to death, but Cat was able to give Ape one last request.

Ape requested to make one final creation, Humans, and put his entire self into them, making it so that they cannot be ignored, for they are intelligent.

Gaining the Human's favor was now the priority, as everyone took on Human-like forms and gave themselves human-like names.

All except for the Lion King, who was disgusted by the Humans, and holds a grudge against them for seemingly no other reason other then he hated their creator for unknown reasons.

* * *

“And that’s the story really, Ape, was the youngest and the smartest, some say even the wisest, but the eldest doesn’t like those who don’t bow down to him, that’s what happened to both Ape and Lioness, she even kept a name that links her to that tyrant solely because it was a bit too late to change it.” Shizu had finished her story, Lioness sleeping soundly on her lap.

“It’s just as well really, the name holds power, that’s really all there is to it, it’s the thing that the Lion King doesn’t get.” Joshua remarked. “In any case, we should get some sleep, I need to procure the Amulet of Lioness from Sylvia along with the rest of the artifacts if I want to break the seal on the Tiara.”

Shizu giggled. “Is that what you're after, and here I thought you didn’t want that power.”

“I don’t, not any more then before, but I’m prepared to give up humanity if it means Lioness is restored to her original form…”

After that, we all pretty much settled in for the night.

* * *

I was running.

I wasn’t running from anything, just running, hoping I might find him in this forest.

I gripped the jeweled headband with felt ears in my hand, wondering if I might actually see him again.

_ It’s been years since I last saw him, yet maybe he can show me those things again, maybe he can teach me that magic he always let me play with.  _ I thought, gripping the headband till it made cut into my hand.

I took a good look at it in the light of the full moon, the thing was gold with many jewels added to it, at the center is a bright red ruby and two dazzling green emeralds at the base of the ears.

Taking the headband I decided it was time to try it on, I knew it was Big Bros, I know he might get mad, but I wanted to see if maybe wearing this could get me closer to finding Bro.

As soon as I put them on it was like my ears were full of cotton before and only now are they clear, except there was something more.

“Big Sis is the best Sis in the whole wide world!”

“Huh?” Where was that coming from? It sounded like a little girl but I couldn’t make out which direction it came from.

“Come on Big Sis, let’s play, Tag your it!”

“It, it sounds like it’s coming from everywhere…” At least it sounded like that.

“Huh? Is someone there?”

“Wait can you hear me, where are you?”

“I’m over here silly.”

“I can’t see you though.”

“Hihi, but that’s silly I’m right here.”

“Huh?” It’s at this point I noticed something wrong, I was certain my hair wasn’t this long before, it was nearly reaching my hips.

“You look so pretty like Big Sis Alice.”

“W-what?” I said, my voice cracking, realizing something was wrong I ran straight towards a nearby pond and took a look, I watched as my face shifted like wet clay, till what looked like the face of a teenage girl looked back at me rather than a twenty year old guy.

“N-n-no, this c-can't be happening!”

My regular ears had vanished and I felt as my whole body was sliming down, every last bit of fat and muscle shifted around from my waist to the chest and hips, I watched as I grew a set small set of breasts and a bubble but.

It was then I felt a weird sensation in my groin as I felt it slip into me, I suddenly realized I wasn’t a boy anymore.

I looked myself over in the dim light, my hands were slimmer and more dainty, my hair reached halfway down my back, and my tail swished slowly behind me.

_ Wait… TAIL! _

An orange tail was slowly flicking behind me.

“Big Sis Alice, what’s wrong?

It was at this moment I broke down.

* * *

It was morning and I was just about ready to wake when I found something jump on top of me.

“Big Sis Alice, why won’t you play with me!” Lady Lioness was on my chest, I couldn’t breathe, and thus wasn’t able to say that I was A. Tired, and B. unable to breathe because she was heavy.

“Milady please you're suffocating her!” Joshua shouted as he rushed over to pull the little omnipotent munchkin off me, if you think a five year old can safely lay on you, you’d be wrong.

After removing the heavy feeling from my chest I asked. “Milady why did you do that?”

“Big Sis Alice wouldn’t play with me, she just kept sitting there crying.”

“That’s because I- Wait, what?” I was confused, I haven’t been crying, I rubbed my face just to make sure, nope, definitely not crying in my sleep.

“Uh oh…” Joshua’s face was pale. “I think I know what happened, Lady Lioness was dreaming, and Joey has the Ears…”

“Erm, what does that mean?” I asked.

“Back before the curse, I learned quickly that Lady Lionesses dreams are… Well there no different from mine or your dreams in that there’s logic behind them, the problem is that the Ears allow Lioness to hear everything you say, and everything she says in the dream is heard by you, and thus Lioness essentially adds you to the dream, and this has resulted in me ending up as a full on cat if I left the Ears on while she was sleeping, luckily for me Lady Lioness always was able to turn me back because…” Joshua stopped suddenly. “Hopefully I’m wrong, let’s go, My lady, can you tell which direction is the cryings coming from?”

Lioness perked her ears up and started scanning the air, till finally, she started running off in the direction of the north.

“Follow that goddess!” Joshua said, and after two hours of travel, we finally arrived.  What I saw was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen, in that I never thought I’d see myself without the need of a mirror or camera.  At the edge of a pond in the middle of a clearing in the forest, was a carbon copy of me, from the ginger hair that looked almost orange, to the scar on my shoulder where I got burned from standing behind someone when they flung a frying pan behind them. (True story, don’t stand behind people cooking.)

“W-what, how, Lady Lioness why?” I didn’t really know what to say?  Brian and Lady Shizu kept a close eye on Lioness, while I and Joshua approached the crying girl, it was obvious that this wasn’t a girl yesterday, the clothes are way too big and made for someone with much broader shoulders and smaller hips.  “Joey, is that you?” Joshua asked.

The girl stopped crying and looked up at Joshua. “B-big b-bro… W-what happened to me? Why do I have a tail? Why am I a girl?”

“Let’s just say that you got caught up in a dream.” Joshua said, with a faint smile.

Brian then turned to Lioness. “Alright, Milady, please turn this young man to the way  _ he _ used to be.”

Lioness just tilted her head.

“I’m afraid that may not be so easy, Not only is Lioness the only one who could reverse this, but she could only do so if she knew what he looked like before, unfortunately, she has never met Joey before, as she transformed him accidentally.” Shizu explained.

“Not only that, but since Lioness did this in a dream, she has no memory of doing it, so asking her to do it is just confusing her five year old brain…” Joshua said.

It was at this point Joey broke down in tears again, Joshua decided now was as good a time as any to remove the Ears.

Gripping the jeweled headband he slowly lifted it off and away from Joey’s ears, the headband having two holes where the ears slide through.

“Joey… This happened because I ran away, because I didn’t stay in touch with my own home, and let people think I was dead… Because of that… you got a hold of this thing, a tool that when used improperly can lead to someone getting hurt… Joey, I’m sor-”

It was at that moment that Joey hugged Joshua.

“I don’t care about any of that, I don’t care that I can never go back, just so long as I can be with you, and get to know you, I just don’t want to be alone anymore…” Joey's grip tightened.

“Joey… Our parents really do breed rebels don’t they?”

After a bit, Joey loosened the hug, Joshua stuffed the Ears up his sleeve, and I decided to take a look at the new girl.

“I guess that we’re now twins… eh heh…” I said, Joey gave a soft smile. “Well aren’t you a little bundle of joy, actually, how about that, since your old name doesn’t fit anymore, how about Joy?”

She nodded her head politely.

* * *

After Joshua summoned a robe for Joy so she can be around without getting hit by the curse, We made our way westward towards Shizu’s temple.

It took was a good two days travel due to the detour to pick up Joy, but we eventually made it.

“Here we are!” Joshua exclaimed.

In front of us was what looked like a Japanese Shrine, but after passing through the shrine like it wasn’t there we were met with a massive Japanese style palace, with paper walls and the like.

Standing in the doorway was a sixteen year old girl with silver hair, fox ears, and two foxtails, she wore a pure white kimono and gave a soft smile.

Till she couldn’t hold it any longer and pounced on Joshua. (Everyone’s just pouncing everyone else, are we missing a cultural thing or is everyone just letting animal instincts take over?)

“Joshy! It’s so good to see you, where have you been?” She asked.

“Good to see ya to Sill,” Joshua said. “I’ve just been around.”

We all got settled into the lounge and Silvia and Joshua started sharing stories.

“-I later found Lady Lioness in a veterinary clinic, playing with the staff, it would have been cute if not for the absolute panic I was in and the questions of how she ended up there.” Joshua sipped his tea. “I later found out that a friend of mine lead Lioness there after she got away from me.”

Silvia giggled. “It’s good to know you haven’t changed in two years, you still can’t keep track of Lioness in a crowd.”

Joshua’s eyes fell. “...As nice as this is… I didn’t come here to catch up, as much as I wish it was… I need the Tiara in order to bring Lioness back.”

“I see…” Silvia pulls at a necklace around her neck revealing pendant in the shape of the Symbol of Lioness.

Taking it off she hands it to Joshua. “I promise to bring it back once I’m done.” He said, stuffing it down his sleeve.

“So how many artifacts have you collected so far?” Silvia asked.

“So far… two, unfortunately, that’s not so great anymore since Arthropus raided my home while I was away and sold all my stuff, I got the Ears and the Amulet, that’s it…”

“In that case, the first priority is the staff.”

“Except that’s all the way in Solonopsin, granted that’s luckily the  _ safest _ road out of the forest, it’s still dangerous to travel out of the Tetronian forest outside of the caravan…” Joshua clenched his fist. “I’m still not let on the caravans, and especially with Lioness like this, I don’t think it’s happening… It’s not exactly safe to stray outside the forest, I know it to the point that many actually pay me to help them escape pursuit through the forest wilderness, not even the bandit tribes that make the forest their home know the forest better than me, many have tried, but they eventually run into a spider swarm and succumb to the venom, I created the Eyes to avoid such fate early on till I eventually learned the spider migration patterns.” Joshua explained. “I’m not so good outside the forest since bandits are harder to avoid outside the forest.”

“What about artifacts within the forest?”

“The only one is the Eyes which were bought by a Tetronian Noble, granted getting those are important since getting the Grail requires them.” Joshua sips more tea. “Might as well since it’s right across the river, we should rest here for now though, we’ll have plenty of time to hunt down the missing artifacts in the morning.”


End file.
